12 December 2005

On the eve of the world trade talks, international development agency, ActionAid, is calling on rich countries to stop pushing their own agendas and put development at the heart of all negotiations. Unless there is a major turnaround in the talks, developing countries should refuse to take these negotiations any further.

Despite the fact that a full deal is unlikely, discussions are still taking place on key issues such as industrialised goods and services. The EU, US and Japan are pushing poor countries to open their markets to foreign competition, yet are unwilling to make any serious offers on key issues such as agricultural subsidies.

As it is unlikely the negotiations will deliver anything of substantial benefit to developing countries as had been promised at the beginning of this round of talks, there is talk of a ‘development package’ of measures aimed at tackling poverty. ActionAid believes that poor countries should not accept such a package, as development should not be parceled off but should be at the centre of all the negotiations.

"It is amazing that rich countries are going into these talks empty handed and yet still expecting poor countries to give into their demands. These talks were meant to deliver real benefits to millions of poor people, instead their governments are being pressured to open their markets and fobbed off with half-baked measures and empty promises," said Aftab Alam Khan, head of ActionAid’s trade justice campaign.

Over the last two months millions of people affected by unfair trade rules have been campaigning for a fair and democratic WTO. However, ActionAid is concerned that the WTO has not learned the lessons from its past mistakes and is continuing to push through agreements that favour rich countries. Although the ministerial officially starts tomorrow, secretive meetings (known as green rooms) have already begun. Such meetings, that lock out many poor countries from key discussions, can only hinder, rather than help negotiations.